Rise (War Witch Book 1) (40 page)

Ramora flipped him off, too.

"Friendly sort, is she?" he asked.

"This is about as good as it gets," Esteban muttered, earning him an elbow to the stomach from his lover.

"As I was going to say before a giant blonde fell on me," Chara intoned sweetly. "We're all greatly pleased to have been of service to a Blessed of Grannax."

Leto nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Get up," Chara snapped at Ramora, who slowly did, still giving the young woman a glare. "Again, sorry. We're having kind of a weird day."

Leto smiled easily. "Think nothing of it. As I said, I'm in your debt. Had you not come along, I may've been caught in combat for another hour or more."

"That kind of makes the whole rescue thing sound less noble," Chara replied.

"On the contrary," he grinned. "It was most selfless of you to come to the aid of a stranger. There's nothing more noble than that."

"Well, when you put it that way," she smiled. "I guess we're noble."

Ramora twirled a finger in the air. Chara slapped her hand away. Esteban sagged, heaving a weary sigh.

The awkwardness of the situation was alleviated by a swirl of sparkling lights as an Ascended materialized, a towering brunette with the tail of a tiger, and the most strategically placed amount of almost no clothing Chara had ever seen.

"Leto!" she cried, grabbing him by the neck. "I told you to be careful on the road! Lots of Demon Seed have been spotted! Something awful could have happened to your cute little face!"

"Shana," he gurgled as she nearly strangled him.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?" she wailed. "You're a General in Tysol's army! You should've brought a division as bodyguards!"

"What the what?" Chara blurted.

Esteban stared wide-eyed at the gravity-defying nature of the Ascended.

Ramora waved at her with a grin.

"Little Sister!" Shana squealed, tossing Leto aside to grab the Blessed of Ramor and hug her tightly. "I haven't seen you in ages! You look so good! Don't smell so good, mind you, but I'll forgive that! How long have you been in the Middle World? Oh, I forgot, you can't talk, not that you don't know how to use your tongue, but still, such a shame, I bet you moan in the high C range, and are these your friends? Hi! I'm Shana!"

Chara gaped. Esteban closed her mouth for her. Ramora tried to breathe around the Ascended's hug. Leto picked himself up, wondering what'd just happened.

"Hi," Esteban offered when everyone simply stood staring.

Ramora tapped out.

"SO, YOU’RE THE DAUGHTER
of Ramor I've heard so much about," Leto said, looking Ramora over. "I must say, this is quite the honor, to be rescued by the most favored of the War Wolf's Blessed."

Ramora shrugged, waving the whole thing off.

"Does he always talk like that?" Chara asked Shana.

"No, just when he meets new people he's trying to impress," the Ascended replied. "Especially hot women."

"Shana!" Leto gasped, horrified.

"What?" she asked.

Chuckling nervously, Leto turned back to Ramora. "Ascended. You know how they are."

"Better than most," Shana giggled, drawing a look of embarrassment from Ramora. "What?"

"I'm not hearing any of this," Chara grumbled.

"Nope," Esteban agreed, trying to look anywhere but at the demigoddess.

"If we could maybe just leave that topic behind us," Leto said, a touch of annoyance with his Ascended in his voice. "Might I ask what brings such a renowned hero to these parts?"

"Who's he talking about?" Chara asked Esteban.

"Ramora," he replied with a shrug. "I guess."

"She's very famous in certain circles," Shana told them. "Mostly for her ability to do this thing with her mouth, where..."

"Shana!" Leto yelled. "Enough!"

"What?" she asked.

"Forgive her," he said to the Blessed of Ramor. "She has no couth that I've ever discovered."

Ramora nodded as she flushed furiously.

"Couth is for people who are ashamed to say the word fuck," Shana nodded, somehow managing to make the statement sound wise.

Chara marveled at that a bit.

"If we could get off this subject," Leto said, then groaned as Shana giggled. "Please!"

"Fine, have it your way," the Ascended pouted. "I'll be a good demigoddess for a little while."

"I would appreciate it," he sighed.

"So, you two are a couple?" she asked, whirling on Chara and Esteban. "Kinky."

Leto took Ramora by the arm, guiding her away as her friends threw her imploring looks for salvation she ignored. Running into a Blessed of Grannax wasn't the kind of good fortune that happened every day.

"Forgive me," he said softly. "Shana, she seems to take great joy in embarrassing me."

Ramora smirked a bit and nodded, knowing the Ascended well. She signed to him that she understood, then caught herself and made an internal groan. Naturally, he stared at her hands in confusion.

"I see you've figured out a way to talk to people," he nodded. "You'll have to teach it to me. I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say."

Ramora arched an eyebrow. Okay, this was getting cozy a little faster than she'd expected. Giving him a polite smile, she pointed at Chara, then moved her fingers around.

"Ah, the young lady understands it," he said. "Well, in that case, until I get the hang of it, she can help. I feel it's more than luck that has us crossing paths."

The warrior put a hand to his chest, pushing him back a step. He was cute and all, but not that good looking.

He laughed at that. "I think you misunderstand my intentions. You're on the road to Lansing, the same as me. I assume you're responding to King Untar's summons."

Ramora blinked, then shook her head slowly.

"Oh, I see," he murmured. "Then perhaps it's just Divine Providence that has us meeting. Regardless, if I may travel with you for a time, I've something I'd like to discuss with you."

Hesitant, she nodded. Grannax's Blessed were well-known for their trustworthiness, integrity, and honor, so she figured if he wanted to talk, then that was all he really wanted. Still, he struck her as being a little more flirty than she was ready for.

Or maybe, you just want to not spend a night alone
, her Rabbit offered in a sing-song voice. She ignored it, knowing it was probably right.

Waving him to follow, she headed back to her companions. She wasn't looking for love, or even a romp in the hay, no matter how strong his arms looked, rippling under the linen shirt he wore, capable of sweeping her up and...

Told you
, her Rabbit whistled.

Shut up
, she snarked.

"Which, as you can guess, is totally not someplace you should normally get caught naked," Shana was saying, much to the horrified looks on Chara and Esteban's faces.

Ramora snapped her fingers at the Ascended, getting her attention and giving her an annoyed look.

"What?" she asked.

"Shana," Leto cut in. "Ramora and I have decided to make the rest of the trip to Lansing together, so rest assured, I'm in good hands."

She giggled. "Oh, trust me, I know."

Leto sagged. "Why me?"

"Cause you’re so darn cute," she told him. "Okay, kids, I'm off. See you later."

The demigoddess paused to give Ramora a kiss on the cheek. "Take good care of him."

Ramora nodded, giving her a hug before the Ascended stepped back, returning to the High World in a shower of sparkles.

"I need to go scrub my brain," Chara said in a shocked tone.

"Indeed," Esteban nodded.

"Yeah, Shana was here," Leto sighed.

Ramora snickered silently.

Collecting himself, Leto smiled at his new traveling companions. "You have my apologies, friends. Shana seems to take some sort of pleasure from embarrassing us mere mortals."

"Noticed," Chara muttered.

"Indeed," Esteban nodded again.

"We're about a week out from Lansing," he told them, a humiliated smile in place. "Let's discuss our reasons for heading there, shall we?"

With it agreed, they headed back to where Ramora and Chara had left their horses, Leto's having fled the Demon Seed earlier. With a sharp whistle, he brought it galloping back, drawing a look of approval from the younger of the two women.

"Hold on," Esteban exclaimed. "This is the road to Lansing? That means I was right! We should've gone left the first time!"

"Uh, honey," Chara started to say.

Ramora tackled him.

"Never mind," she groaned.

Returning to the road, the small band continued their journey, Chara explaining the reason for theirs. Leto listened intently to the tale of Ramora's past, her quest to stop the Dark Blessed who'd taken everything from her, and of their discovery at Imicot's keep that he was known as Draco.

"This must be Divine Providence," he murmured. "About six months ago, I received a letter from Untar, King of Lansing, and a fellow Blessed of Grannax, asking me to visit him. He's gathering other Blessed and training them to fight as a unit."

"About time someone did," Chara intoned. "Nothing personal, but the whole lone-wolf thing you guys do isn't very effective."

Leto chuckled at that. "No, I suppose it really isn't. Many of us are simply drifting, seeking the machinations of the Demon Gods wherever we can find it. We rarely encounter each other in sufficient numbers to work together. Even on those occasions, we tend to be a difficult lot on the teamwork front."

"You don't say," Esteban muttered, eying Ramora.

She stuck her tongue out at him. Her Rabbit sang a song about immaturity. She stuck her tongue out at it, too.

"The truth is, about half of all Blessed are lucky to survive their first year," Leto explained. "The reason we don't work well together is because those of us who live longer grow accustomed to acting alone. That habit is hard to break once it sets in."

Chara sobered at that thought, giving a secretive look towards Ramora. "That explains a lot about why we only hear stories of individuals, rather than groups."

"In essence," he nodded. "Though, there's another reason we avoid grouping up. Namely, it's difficult to watch a fellow Blessed fall in battle. It scars us in ways that it would be hard to explain."

"I would think it easier for the Demon Seed to destroy many of you at once, as well," Esteban said, understanding lighting his eyes.

Leto grimaced slightly. "That as well. Anywhere large numbers of us are gathered becomes a target for the Demon Gods. Many innocents can be caught in such a battle. It is, in every way, better for us to act alone."

"So, why this team-up now?" Chara asked, noting the look of curiosity in Ramora's eye.

"Yes, that's where the Divine Providence comes in," he said. "Untar has managed to gather information on a particular Dark Blessed who has amassed a great deal of power in recent years, and appears to be plotting something large. As fate would have it, he's known only as Draco."

Ramora started, staring at her fellow Blessed in shock. Signing to Chara quickly, she asked to know more.

Leto nodded as Chara related her question. "I don't know all the particulars myself, only that a group of several Blessed attempted to infiltrate Draco's compound south of the Eastern Heights, where they learned he's plotting some kind of major offensive. Untar assured me he would tell me more when I arrived in Lansing."

Glancing at her young friend, Ramora nodded. Chara returned it, understanding her clearly.

"Then we're in," she said. "Whatever he has to say, we want to hear it as well."

"I will see to it," Leto agreed. "Ramora, more than any of us, has a right to not only know this, but be involved in stopping this madman."

"We appreciate it," the young woman told him.

He waved it off. "As I said, it's Divine Providence that places us together. Who am I to debate the will of the Gods?"

Looking over at her friend, Chara offered her a smile. "See now? I told you we'd figure out something."

Grinning, the warrior smiled back. Sometimes, one simply had to leave things in the hands of the Divine, and have faith. She knew that better than most, but had let herself become so bogged down in worry, she'd lost sight of it. It seemed Heaven had chosen to send her a sign to get her back on track.

"We'll be lucky to have such a capable Blessed of Ramor with us," Leto agreed, then tossed Ramora a wink. "And even more so that she's beautiful."

Ramora flushed a little, waving him off.